Partition systems for office buildings typically comprise groupings of inter-connected wall panels arranged to define individual work areas. The wall panels may extend from floor to ceiling, in which case the partition system usually has a fixed overall configuration. Cables for providing power and data communications connections can then be routed through the wall panels themselves to appropriate locations within the workspace. Typically, cabling is run overhead and then brought down through the wall panels to work height. Where the wall panels are less than full height, cabling can be run through a column or pole that extends upwardly from the partition system to the ceiling.
Electrical codes require that certain precautions be taken to protect cables within a partition system. Appropriate protection can be achieved relatively easily where the system is substantially fixed. However, flexibility often is required. For example, in some office environments there may be a need to reconfigure a partition system at relatively frequent intervals and/or to change the locations at which power and communications services can be accessed within the system. Electrical receptacles and data jacks may be required at desk height at some locations within the partition system, and at floor height at other locations within the system, and these requirements may change over time.
An object of the present invention is to provide a workspace partition system and a wall panel for use in such a system, in which power and/or data access points can readily be relocated on site, while at the same time providing appropriate protection for the cabling.